𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐑𝐄, c.d.

𝐨𝐧𝐞

CHAPTER ONE | HELLTON
"Okay, bye dad, mom. I'll see you soon." The girl kissed her fathers cheek before turning to her mother for a hug.

"Alright, you two, be good. Knox, take care of your sister. Cove, make sure your brother doesn't act like an idiot." The two nodded their heads as their parents got in their car, driving off.

"Thank god. They're gone." Cove and Knox quickly made their way up to the rooms, Cove getting her own room because she was the only girl and Knox sharing with Dylan, another senior.

"Cove Overstreet? Aren't you looking absolutely gorgeous today." The girl turned around to see her best friend, Charlie, with a wide grin on his face.

"Charlie!" Cove ran to the boy, throwing her arms around him as he picked her up, spinning her around.

"Good to see your pretty face again, Cove." Cove smiled into the the boys shoulder, squeezing him in her arms as he let out a laugh.

"Missed you too, Dalton." The boy set Cove done before taking her hand and pulling her through the hall. "Cmon Knox, keep up!" The boy rolled his eyes and shook his head as he called out to his sisters best friend.

"You aren't gonna hold my hand, Charlie?" Charlie looked back at the boy and scoffed, shaking his head.

"In your dreams, Knoxious." The two boys smiled at each other before Charlie pulled Cove into his room where Meeks was, who sat at his desk fixing up his books.

"Hey, Meeksie."

"Hey, Cove. How was your summer?"

"Very nice, thanks for asking. Hey, is Neil here yet?" Meeks nodded his head before Cove walked out of the boys room and across the hall to Neils, a big smile on her face. Charlie, Meeks, and Knox all stood behind the girl, the Dalton boy placing a hand on the girls waist. Neil and Cove had known each other since they were twelve, longer than she had known any of the other boys. The friendship that they had was unlike any she had with the other four, even Charlie. Her and Charlie were the kind of friends that flirted and acted like a couple but her and Neil were like brother and sister. She wouldn't have it any other way.

"Mr. Perry, rumor has it, you did summer school." Neil turned and saw his friends, making his smile widen.

"Yep. Chemistry. My father thought I should get ahead." The four stood at the doorway as a small blonde boy sat on the bed opposite of Neils."How was your summer, slick?" Charlie grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Keen." Cove scoffed and slapped his chest before walking into the room and sitting on Neils bed, Charlie joking with her and wrapping his arm around her.

"Meeks. Door. Closed." The ginger nodded his head and closed the door before he and Knox sat down on the new kids bed. "Gentlemen, and lady, what are the four pillars?" Cove chuckled and rested her head on Charlie's shoulder.

"Travesty. Horror. Decadence. Excrement." Charlie made himself comfortable on Neil's bed, placing a pillow behind him, before lighting up a cigarette, offering it to Cove who shook her head.

"Okay, study group. Meeks aced Latin, Coves great at trig, and I didn't quite flunk English. So, if you want, we've got our study group." The group all agreed, nodding their head as Neil went to stand up.

"Sure. Cameron asked me too. Anyone mind including him?"

"Cameron's a pain in my ass, Neil." Neil looked at the girl and chuckled, shaking his head.

"Everyones a pain in your ass, Cove. And come on, Charlie, he's your roommate." Charlie put his hands up and shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head as Cove turned her head, meeting eyes with the new boy. She quickly gave him a warm smile as she held out her hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Cove Overstreet, that's my brother Knox. That's Steven Meeks, and this is Charlie Dalton. You are?" The boy shook hands with the girl as Charlie tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her back into him.

"Oh, this is Todd Anderson." Todd turns around and shakes hands with Meeks and the rest of the boys.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." Charlie moves to lay on the bed, Coves legs draped over Charlie's, the boy looking smug as Knox extends a hand towards Todd.

"Todd's brother was Jeffrey Anderson." Cove vividly remembered Jeffery. He was about three years older than her, and he used to tutor her for Latin. They were good friends, but after he graduated, she never heard from him again. "Jeffery used to tutor all of us, real nice guy."

"How is he, Todd, your brother? Is he still dating Sophia?" Sophia was a girl that went to Ridgeway when Jeffery was at Welton. Cove would sneak her in for the eldest Anderson and let her stay in her room until it was late enough for her to go to Jefferys room.

"They're actually engaged now. Yeah, so I'm sure he's going to invite you to their wedding." Cove smiled and nodded her head, happy for the boy. She remembered when they first started dating, he was head over heels for Sophia, and it seems like he still is.

"Let them know I'm happy for them." Todd nodded his head, looking at his hands that had been picking at each other the whole time. "Oh and welcome to
Hellton."

AUTHORS NOTE
Ive rewritten this book at least four times
Final rewrite start date - 11/28/22